Promoting the sound and fast development of new quality productive forces is a crucial step for China to respond to the new challenges of the global science and technology revolution and industrial transformation in the new era and achieve high-quality economic development. In the context of the digital era, the infiltration of digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain into the real economy has given rise to new models and industries such as smart manufacturing and digital agriculture, and changed the way traditional industries produce and operate. The integration of digital economy and real economy has become an important systemic base and strategic driving force for the development of new quality productive forces. However, infrastructure bottlenecks and uneven regional development limit the role of digital-physical integration in promoting the development of new quality productive forces. How to further promote the integration of digital economy with real economy, with a focus on developing new quality productive forces, is a key question that must be addressed at present.
Existing research has addressed the role of economic activities generated in the process of digital-physical integration in promoting new quality productive forces, but it has not yet clarified how digital-physical integration can better form new quality productive forces. In fact, no single factor can adequately elucidate the intricate dynamics propelling the advancement of new quality productivity; thus, a broader perspective is essential for a more holistic understanding. While a one-size-fits-all approach is insufficient for guiding regions in selecting development drivers that align with their unique circumstances, necessitating further investigation into diverse pathways tailored to specific realities. Additionally, empirical research that systematically examines the evolution of data-physical integration and its qualitative influence on new quality productivity remains scarce.
Considering the complex interactive effects of the elements of digital-physical integration, this paper, based on the view of complex systems, constructs an analysis framework of "digital foundation-digital industry-digital finance-industrial structure-industrial agglomeration-industrial chain modernization" for digital-physical integration. It uses the dynamic qualitative comparative analysis method to analyze and reveal the relationship between the path evolution of digital-physical integration and the emergence of new quality productive forces in the case of 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across China from 2013 to 2022.
The research results show that (1) neither the digital economy nor the real economy possesses a single, indispensable condition for fostering high new quality productive forces. (2) In the aggregated configuration analysis, there are mainly three constituting pathways, namely, digital finance empowerment type, full-chain digital upgrade type, and high-tech industry agglomeration type. (3) A comparison of the configuration results indicates that a robust digital foundation and a thriving digital industry are pivotal in catalyzing new quality productive forces during digital-physical integration, whereas digital finance and industrial agglomeration exhibit a substitutable relationship. (4) The inter-group analysis shows that the aggregated configuration has a temporal universality, while the formation of new quality productive forces has undergone an evolutionary process from high-tech industry agglomeration-oriented to digital finance empowerment-oriented and further differentiation. (5) The intra-group analysis indicates that the formation of new quality productive forces requires tailored development, and the agglomeration-oriented configuration of high-tech industries is suitable for areas where the industrial chain is not yet fully developed, while areas with better digital finance development are more poised to cultivate new quality productive forces.
This paper establishes an analytical framework of "digital economy-real economy" linkage configuration for the emergence of new-quality productive forces, revealing the complex causal relationships behind the emergence of new-quality productive forces. It analyzes the development of new-quality productive forces, which has undergone a transformation from the regulation of a materialized economic system to the regulation of a virtualized economic system. The paper has developed the perspective of complex systems regarding the creation of new technologies.Furthermore, it offers tailored recommendations for enhancing new-quality productive forces, tailored to local contexts, such as bolstering the construction of digital infrastructure and the digital industry, encouraging and supporting the development of digital finance, and accelerating the industrial chain's modernization.